On Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing needed to maintain stability in the South China Sea as it seeks alliances in the region amid tensions in the disputed waters.
The United States has opposed China for neglecting international law by the construction and militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea, threatening regional stability.
Vietnam also reportedly postponed drilling activities in the disputed waters because of warnings from Beijing.
The BBC reported, Hanoi established Spanish oil company Repsol, which started gas-drilling operations in a region about 400km off Vietnam’s southeast coast last month, to leave the zone.
Repsol executives were told last week by the government in Hanoi that China had warned to strike Vietnamese bases in the Spratly Islands if the drilling did not stop.
Thailand
“China and Thailand are like brothers,” Wang Yi said on Monday.
Thailand supported the installation of the first phase of a $5.5 billion railway project to link the modern eastern seaboard with southern China through Laos, last month.
Wang stated he believed the rail project would “elevate” Thailand’s status in the area and said that the two countries would succeed differences to bring the rail project to success.
